The Sex Pistols was the reason Rick left A&M, not the other way round...
― Mark G, Tuesday, 8 May 2012 06:39 (1 year ago) Permalink
No it has to be the other way around if it's true at all. I'm sceptical that he would have had that much sway at the label, since sales were waning (though his late 70s stuff is good - often preferable to the earlier, better known albums). Wakeman's final album for A&M came out in 1979, two years after the fact. I know that Wakeman showed up in a documentary talking about this and said it was essentially a bullshit story.
― everything, Tuesday, 8 May 2012 07:26 (1 year ago) Permalink
xpost to earlnash - try Criminal Record, which is a digestible and enjoyably brief album from '77. It has a fair chunk of solo Rick mixed with Alan White, Chris Squire and Wakeman doing some fairly disciplined and enjoyable proggy bits.
― everything, Tuesday, 8 May 2012 07:41 (1 year ago) Permalink
Basically, McLaren had said that the Sex Pistols' signing had upset some of the proggers on the label (He'd read, upside down, a memo on the A&M-A&R's desk to the extent of "hey, do we all have to wear safety pins through our noses now?" and said more or less in passing that it was him wot got them sacked.
At which point lots of A&M staffers were all "yes, yes, that's exactly what happened", which got Rick extremely pissed off. Doubtless, that was not the only factor, but maybe one of them that made him see out his contract then goodnight vienna.
One further album, "Rhapsodies", then off. (his "Criminal Record" presumably well on the way by then..)
― Mark G, Tuesday, 8 May 2012 08:43 (1 year ago) Permalink
Thanks, that rings true. Wakeman was probably nearing the end at A&M anyway. "Criminal Record" did not sell too well I think - I recall stacks of copies marked down in Boots at the start of the 80s, which is where I got it from. Rhapsodies could be looked at as a stereotypical "last album for the label". It feels/sounds cut-price, has a terrible sleeve design (as did Criminal Record) and is all over the place, apparently hoping to appeal to the general public (there's everything from James Last-style orchestal disco to moogy riffs on famous classical/jazz tunes. This from a guy who has no business even considering what what "commercial" might sound like (listen to "Rock'n'Roll Prophet" to see how lamentable is his take on early-80s synthpop. Notwithstanding all that, to me there is some good stuff on these album due to his general creative quirkiness and blokey whimsicality.
― everything, Tuesday, 8 May 2012 17:03 (1 year ago) Permalink
People had some patience back in those days, I just don't see any of this kind of weird music being THAT popular.
hypothesis: prog rock fulfilled a cinematic purpose for fantasy/scifi/stoner nerds in the mid seventies, but that purpose was superseded by blockbuster sci-fi movies and the spread of D&D and then FPS videogames. Punk didn't kill prog rock, the triumph of nerdery in other pop culture areas did.
― bendy, Tuesday, 8 May 2012 20:26 (1 year ago) Permalink
Not wanting to sound negative but no.
― everything, Tuesday, 8 May 2012 22:30 (1 year ago) Permalink
I'm totally digging Rock and Roll Prophet at the moment. It's like Wakeman meets the Buggles. And he sings weird duets!
http://open.spotify.com/album/1cOv3eKLgw8Tuas65QvaS6
― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 26 October 2012 19:28 (6 months ago) Permalink